Ringing of the Snow
by TailsDoll13
Summary: Even with the dreamlike quality of the falling snow outside, Nico knew that what was happening in a small infirmary room was real. And he was glad that it was real. (One-shot, Will/Nico. Boy/boy. Takes place around eight years in the future or so. Prompt request on Tumblr.)


**11-"Don't you dare throw that snowba-GODDAMMIT!"**

* * *

Snow fell gently to the ground on a cold December day. The entire city of New Rome was covered with the white fluff, landing silently on homes and buildings and the grounds. The morning was silent, an eerie silent, as though nothing at all could disturb it.

Except for one thing.

A white projectile slammed into the side of a tree, shaking it and causing the snow to fall off in a heap.

Percy yelped and jumped back from the tree. "No fair, Jason!" he yelled, shaking his fist at the statue of Kymopoleia nearby. Loud snickering could be heard from behind it. "You can control the winds!"

"Snow turns into water," Annabeth reminded him. "Technically, you should have the advantage."

"We need more people. This is war, Annabeth."

"Isn't it always with you and Jason?"

"No, it's not!"

Annabeth sighed, before leaning over and kissing her husband on the cheek. "You want me to get Frank and Hazel?"

"Already here!"

Percy and Annabeth turned to see Frank, Hazel, and Nico walking side by side. Hazel held hands with both of the young men. "Did you start another snowball fight with Jason and Piper?" Nico asked.

"Yes," Percy and Annabeth blurted at the same time, before giving each other incredulous looks.

Frank sighed. "You better not get Terminus upset this time. He has the worst punishments ever."

"That was Piper's fault!"

A snowball knocked Annabeth's hat off her head. She yelped and scrambled around in the snow for it. "PIPER!" she yelled.

"I did nothing! It was you!"

"No way!" Annabeth brushed the snow off her hat into her hand, forming a neat snowball. She ran up to the statue and ran around it. A loud WHUMP! and two squeals of protest followed.

"Oh, no," Percy whispered.

A few seconds later, Annabeth barreled around the statue, laughing, as Jason and Piper followed with snowballs in their hands. "You better run!" Piper yelled, charmspeak filling her voice. Everyone that was in the nearby vicinity turned and ran in opposite directions.

Nico found himself huddling with Hazel behind a tree. Something struck against it, the impact causing a shower of snow to fall in front of him. "What do we do?" he yelled at Hazel. "We can't make snowballs fast enough!"

"No," Hazel agreed, "but a few skeletons can!"

"Are you sure? They move slower in cold weather-"

More snowballs hit the tree, and more snow slid off of it. "Summon the skeletons!" Hazel yelped.

Nico winced and raised his arms out in front of him. Hazel dropped to the ground and started patting at the snow, building a makeshift fort. The ground began to tremble, and cracks opened in the snow. Five skeletons crawled out of them, straightening themselves out and staring at Nico.

Nico pointed to the ground. "Make snowballs."

They stared at him indignantly, before dropping to the ground and awkwardly patting at the snow. Nico facepalmed.

"Got a fort and some snowballs!" Hazel cheered, jumping back up. She handed one to Nico. "Jason and Piper should be on the other side. Throw as hard as you can!" Without warning, she leaned to the side and threw a snowball past the tree. "HEY!" someone yelled back.

"Not sorry!" Hazel ducked back as two snowballs flew past her. "They have reinforcements-start throwing!" The grin on her face looked suspiciously mischievous.

"Excuse me?" But Hazel shoved Nico and he stumbled out past the tree.

Nico saw what she meant. Jason and Piper were busy throwing snowballs at Annabeth and Percy. Next to them, Reyna was circling Frank. Both of the former praetors had snowballs in their hands and looked antsy. Rachel's hands expertly formed the snow into neat little balls, and helping her was…

"You traitor!" Nico yelled.

Will looked up, grinning. "Hi! I heard there was a fight."

Nico smiled. "And you chose Jason's side?"

"You were on his side last week!" Rachel laughed back.

"That was different, Will was with me last time!"

"Throw it, Nico!" Hazel yelled.

Nico rolled his eyes and threw it at Reyna. The impact of snow caused her to turn around with her eyebrows raised, which gave Frank the opportunity to unleash his collection of snowballs on her.

Nico leapt back into the safety of the tree, before Rachel and Will could start throwing their snowballs. "Equal numbers on both sides," he mused. "That seems like fun."

A skeleton clattered its teeth, and Nico looked down to see it pointing at a pyramid of snowballs that went up to his knee. He whistled. "That was pretty fast."

Hazel dusted off her hands. "I helped while you fraternized with the enemy."

"He's my boyfriend! If it was Frank, you would've done the same!"

Hazel opened her mouth to reply, but a loud whooping cut her off. Nico looked back around the tree to see a fox running across the snow, followed by Reyna. Piper and Jason were running away from Percy and Annabeth, who were giving them no mercy. Will and Rachel were nowhere to be seen.

Nico turned back to Hazel. "Percy and Annabeth are chasing Jason and Piper, and I think Reyna is running after Frank. I don't see Will or Rachel-"

"Surprise!"

A snowball sailed past Nico over Hazel's head, causing her to shriek and duck. Nico whirled around to see Rachel step out from behind the tree. Will stood behind her.

"You really didn't notice us?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows raised high. "Damn. We're sneakier than I thought."

"Run!" Nico grabbed Hazel and yanked her up, then started running. Hazel gasped before she realized what was going on, and fell into pace beside him. He let go of her arm.

"Thanks for the free snowballs!" Will yelled, but his voice was already growing faint.

After a few minutes of running, Nico and Hazel slowed down on the cobblestones of New Rome, panting. They leaned against the side of a bakery.

"How…did they get…there…without….without us noticing?" Nico wheezed.

Hazel swiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "You…were the one…looking," she groaned back.

Nico scowled, but didn't reply.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but soon he could hear footsteps smacking against the stone of the walkway. Whispers filled the air-"I could've sworn I saw them run that way-" "-I'm pretty sure they're downtown-" "No, that was Jason and Piper-" "I'll throw a snowball and see if anyone responds-" "Don't you dare throw that snowball-"

Hazel stiffened. "Who is that?"

"I'll look."

"Nico, if it's them-"

But Nico peered around the corner, just in time for something cold and wet to smack him in the eye and to the ground.

Someone cursed loudly. "GODDAMMIT!"

***You might want to read this part…***

"I can't believe Rachel would do that."

Nico groaned, readjusting the ice pack on his eye. "She didn't mean to, Will."

"You heard her! She specifically said she was going to throw the snowball. She did!" Will ranted, planting his hands on his hips.

Nico was sitting in a chair in the college infirmary, awkwardly swinging his legs. Will stood in front of him. After Rachel's snowball had smacked Nico in the face, Will had brought Nico straight to the infirmary, not allowing him to argue.

"It's not that bad. I probably won't even get a bruise." Nico started to lift the pack off of his eye, but Will pushed his hand back down.

"No. Way. You are keeping that damn thing on."

"How is a snowball going to give me a black eye?"

"How is my hand getting cold going to cause it to fall off?"

"That's different."

Will stuck his tongue out.

"You're such a child," Nico scoffed.

"Nyeh."

Nico stuck out his tongue. "Nyyeeehhhhh."

Will laughed, and Nico started to laugh with him. "At least I still have a sense of humor," Nico pointed out.

Will shook his head, chuckling. "Yeah, you could've been injured way worst," he admitted. He straightened up. "Rachel's out there, and Reyna's probably with her. I'll go tell them you're not injured badly."

Nico started to stand up, but Will pushed him back down. "No. Wait for me."

Nico huffed, but Will was already walking out the door. It slammed shut, and Nico was alone.

How dare Will make him stay behind. Nico was perfectly fine! Will didn't need to fuss so much over him. Come to think of it, Will had been fussier lately. Nico assumed it was the stress of classes, but that didn't seem right.

Whatever. Nico knew how to get revenge on Will. He always kept packs of his favorite bubble gum in his drawers, and he wouldn't let anyone else have them. Nico would just take some pieces.

The trouble is, he didn't know which drawer.

Nico scooted his chair until he was in front of the cabinet, and he opened the top drawer. It was full of spare medical supplies-stethoscopes, syringes, the works. He closed it.

The next one was full of bandaids and lollipops for the younger kids. A velvet black jewelry box was resting next to the boxes, but Nico closed the drawer before the last item fully registered.

After a few seconds, Nico yanked the second drawer open again.

What was a box like that doing in there? Will didn't need to give kids jewelry. Nico picked up the box and turned it over. The name DIANA JEWELS was stamped on the bottom of the box. Nico mouthed the words to himself.

It was the name of the popular jewelry shop in downtown New Rome. The shop had all kinds of jewelry-earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Specifically…

Nico's eyes widened. No way. He must have been dreaming. Will couldn't...neither of them...this had to be a joke. There was no way Will could ever give this to someone like Nico di Angelo.

Right?

Nico had no idea what to do. Should he put the box back and pretend he never saw it? Should he bring it up with Will? What if he opened it? What if it wasn't for Nico? What if it was something else entirely? What if...

No. The possibilities were endless, and Nico couldn't handle thinking about all of them right now. He didn't want to risk opening the box, but he knew that if he didn't it would nag at him.

Fuck it.

Nico carefully opened the box, and what he saw inside stole his breath away.

The ring was a small silver band, set with a diamond at the top. Small diamonds, three on each side, were also pressed into the band. The ring was not overly lavish, but it was not a plain ring either.

Nico couldn't breathe. He was definitely dreaming. He was going to wake up, find that he was fourteen years old again, and that the past eight years or so of his life were a lie. There was no way that this could be true.

The door creaked open, and Nico jumped. "Hey, is it alright with-What are you doing?"

Boots clunked against the floor, until Will was standing next to Nico. "You better not be stealing lollipops again..." Will's voice trailed off when he saw what Nico was holding in his hand. His eyes visibly widened, and he looked downright terrified.

Nico had no idea how to respond or even explain himself. "I was just looking for your special gum-" he stammered.

Will sighed. "Just say no."

Nico was confused. Say no to what? The ring was obviously a joke. "...What?"

"Say no. It's-It's sorta obvious that you want to." Will glanced away, looking absolutely dejected.

"I don't understand." Nico scooted to face Will. "Say no to what?"

Will mumbled something.

"I'm sorry?"

"The ring..."

_Oh my gods._ Nico wasn't sure what his face looked like at that moment, but he was pretty sure it was the perfect mixture of shock and embarrassment. "You're...You're serious about the ring?"

"No, I just had some random ring lying around in my cabinet," Will snapped. He looked close to tears, and the sight broke Nico's heart.

Will was being serious. He actually wanted to do this. And Nico's fooling around had ruined whatever plans Will had involving that ring. Now Will thought Nico wanted to say no. The whole situation was a mess.

If you asked many demigods what one upside to being a demigod was, they would say that it was being able to fix messed that they personally created. And Nico was one of those demigods.

"Look, Will." Nico stood up. He let go of the ice pack, letting it fall to the floor. "I obviously fucked up whatever plans you had with this ring. And, honestly, there's only one way to fix it: It happens now."

Will frowned up at him. "What do you mean?"

Nico closed the ring box and tossed it to him. Will yelped and fumbled with it. "Ignore your plans. Forget whatever speech you had in mind, whatever restaurant you were gonna do it in. Let's do this the simple way."

Will stared, until realization dawned on his face. "Ohhh. You mean-" He pointed at the ground. "You want me to-"

Nico ran his hands through his hair. "Yes, Solace!"

"Wow, way to get your skeletal underwear in a twist."

"Do the damn thing!"

"Calm down!" Will took a deep breath, before propping one knee up. He opened the box with shaky hands. "Nico di Angelo, will you...oh my gods, I can't believe I'm doing this..."

Nico's heart pounded. He was still waiting to find out that this was just a dream.

"Nico, will you marry me?"

The room was so silent that you could hear a syringe drop. Will was staring up at Nico nervously, his blue-gray eyes full of fear. Fear that Nico would say no, which wasn't going to happen.

It wasn't a dream. It was real.

"Yes."

Will blinked. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes, Will!" Nico leaned down and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his shoulder.

Will froze, before letting out a huge breath and returning Nico's hug. "Did you really just say-"

"Will, why wouldn't I marry you? You're my boyfriend, and you are-you're just perfect."

"You said yes!" Will stood up and swung Nico around, laughing. Nico squeaked at the sudden movement before laughing along with him. When they stopped, Nico lifted his head up to give Will a huge kiss, and he smiled as Will returned it.

The door creaked open behind them. "Eugh, guys, control your PDA," a girl gagged.

Nico and Will broke apart to find Reyna and Rachel standing in the doorway. "Oh, sorry," Nico apologized.

Rachel laughed. "Nah, I'm joking." Then she stopped. "Is that a ring box in your hand?"

Nico cringed, before looking up at Will. "Should we-"

"Do you want to?" Will asked.

"What's going on?" Reyna asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, I just kinda-"

"We're now engaged," Nico interrupted. Will gave him a look.

Both girls stared at them, before Reyna broke into a huge grin and ran up to Nico to crush him in a hug. "Nico, that's wonderful!" she laughed.

"Reyna...too tight..." Nico muttered.

"Sorry." She set him back down. "This is wonderful news! Have either of you made any future plans? When will it be? When will you tell the others? How-"

"Easy, Reyna, we haven't been engaged for even five minutes!" Will interrupted.

"Yeah, let them have their time. And congratulations to both of you." Rachel smiled, before her expression turned stony. "Oh. I just realized what this means."

"What? Is everything okay?" Will asked.

Rachel turned to Reyna. "We're the last couple in this friend group to be engaged or married."

Reyna's mouth dropped into a tiny 'o.' "Hold on there, Rachel-"

"The last ones! Wow, are we behind or what? We gotta step up our game, sweetie, or everyone else will have kids and we'll still be old maids!"

"Babe! People usually don't get engaged at this age-"

"Percy and Annabeth are freaking married already!" Rachel pointed out.

Reyna sighed. "Look, it'll come in due time-"

"So you _will_ propose?"

Reyna flushed red. "I-I never said that!"

"Hmph." Rachel crossed her arms. "I guess I do wear the pants in this relationship." She looked down at her skirt. "I better go find them."

"Rachel!"

"It'll come in due time," Rachel mocked, before flouncing out the door.

"Babe, I-Ooh!" Reyna stamped her foot against the ground. "Why did I agree to dating her?"

"Is everything alright?" Nico asked.

Reyna waved him off. "I'll go find her." She jogged out the door

"Don't tell anyone else we're engaged yet, and make sure Rachel doesn't either!" Will shouted after her.

Reyna nodded, before turning the corner and disappearing out of site. The room was silent.

"Is this what being engaged is like?" Will wondered.

"I thought it wouldn't be so dramatic," Nico muttered.

Will snickered. "Oh, wait, you should probably put the ring on, shouldn't you."

Nico had nearly forgotten about the ring. "Oh, yeah, um-"

"Here." Will gently took Nico's left hand and slid the ring onto his ring finger. "This is how you do it, right?"

Nico nodded. He didn't let go of Will's hand after that.

The room was silent again, but it was a comfortable silence. Will leaned down until his forehead was pressed against Nico's. Nico hummed and swing Will's hands around gently.

"I still can't believe you said yes," Will murmured after a few moments.

Nico smiled. "Honestly, I could never dream of saying no."

"Do you want to get Mexican food tonight?"

"That I can say no to."

Will laughed, and it sounded a thousand times happier. "You wanna kiss again? I feel like our last one got interrupted."

"Yes."

Nico closed his eyes and tilted his head up as Will pressed his lips against his. The moment seared itself into Nico's memory.

It was, by far, the happiest moment of his life.

* * *

**Hi! I'm Taylor, but I'm better known as TailsDoll13.**

**This was originally written as an answer to Kari's prompt request on Tumblr, but then I used it as the twenty-seventh chapter for my ever-popular fanfiction "How Not to Get Your OTP Together." I really liked this one, so I decided to post it separately!**

**My other Solangelo one-shots include "Glasses," "Underneath the Mistletoe," "Nico-Sexual," and a couple others. I also have some about other pairings, such as "Ring," which is Ten/Rose from Doctor Who. Feel free to check them out! I also have some of them up on my AO3, which is Gamzee_Makaraoni.**

**My Tumblr is autisticwillsolace, formerly gamzee-makaraoni (I changed my URL). It is full of feminism, bad puns, and many fandons, such as Homestuck, Percy Jackson, Steven Universe, and many others.**

**I hope to see you later!**

**-DSF**


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